“Dan (drummer Dan Haggis, from Garston) and I were talking about it the other day and we realised that even when we’re at home we’re in

the same routine – take dirty clothes out of the suitcase, put clean ones in.”

Together with bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen the lads have been touring around the world, stopping off to write albums along the way, since

January 2007, when they put out Moving to New York on limited edition vinyl.

In May of that year they released Backfire at the Disco, which took them into the UK Top 40. Their debut album, entitled A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, coincided with the release of Let’s Dance to Joy Division in October 2007, and peaked at number 11 in the UK Albums Chart.

As Liverpool became Capital of Culture in 2008 they played on the roof of St George’s Hall with Ringo Starr and again to open the ECHO arena.

They played the MTV EMAs there later that year too, picking up the award for best new UK act to go with the NME gong they’d already

received that year.

The touring was relentless, with the band playing across Europe and Asia, stopping off each time they did a circuit of the globe for a show at the Academy in Liverpool. It’s fitting as in 2007 they were the first unsigned band to sell out Academy 1.

Next month they play there again.

Is it strange to go back to the place where it all began?

“I suppose it is,” says Murph. “It’s been a constant all the way though this. It’s always great to come back to Liverpool to play. I have always spent as much time here as I can – we rehearse here and I’ve written a lot of songs in my mum and dad’s in Woolton. You go round the world and the place you find inspiration is your mum and dad’s back bedroom.”

Earlier this year you played a warm up show at the Magnet. How was that?

“I don’t know what was going on in the crowd but from where I was it looked brilliant,” he laughs. “I was really stressed because I’d missed my train from London and I was late for everything, but that was a real reset and I thought if all those people are having such a good time down there I may as well join in.”

Do you get homesick?

“I miss people but not places I think. I have lived between Liverpool, London and LA for years so I kind of think of them all as home now.”

LA? That sounds very showbiz.

“Yes,” he laughs. “I’ve kind of got a girlfriend out there now. But we spent time there before recording so I know it quite well now.”

Next month - April 6 to be precise - they release of their third album Glitterbug. Their single Greek Tragedyhas been named as a Radio 1

Track of the Day as well as XFM’s Record of the Week.

Produced by Mark Crew (Bastille) with the band, the album’s themes were inspired by Murph’s experiences in Los Angeles. Drawn to the city’s mix of “opulence and anxiety”, his songwriting for the album focused upon the idea of writing about a tumultuous relationship with a fictional woman from Los Angeles.

“That became the main inspiration for most of the songs, this false world that I’d created for myself,” he explains.

“As time progressed, I’d go to LA more and more, and the idea kept on building. The album’s about the envy and the struggle and the pretence and the worry and the fear that L.A. – and every major city in the world – encompasses.”

Approximately halfway through the writing process, events conspired to curve full-circle from fiction into fact when Murph started dating a seemingly unattainable woman from the city. And so imaginary stories evolved into real life concerns: the fading embers of his relationship back in London and the challenges of maintaining a long distance relationship.

Then of course there’s the huge homecoming show at Liverpool’s 11,000 capacity Echo Arena on September 26.

“We’re looking forward to it,” says Murph. “There’ll be some extra fun and games to look forward to. Like an end of school party where you get to wear your own clothes and bring games in. Or something.”